Transcript
Transcript: Canada's Policy Ecosystem and the Factors that Influence It
[00:00:01 The following text appears on screen: "Canada's Policy Ecosystem and the Factors that Influence It – With Catherine Jobin, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategy, Policy and Public Affairs, Global Affairs Canada."]
[00:00:09 Catherine Jobin appears on screen.]
Catherine Jobin: My name is Catherine Jobin, I am the Acting Assistant Deputy Minister of Strategic Policies at Global Affairs Canada.
[00:00:15 The following text appears on the screen: "How would you describe Canada's policy ecosystem?"]
I am really interested in vocabulary. So, the idea of an ecosystem comes from biology, and it refers to something very complex. A system that holds itself together through many actors, many phenomena and many processes that interact to give a whole. In fact, when we talk about the policy ecosystem, it is a metaphor from biology that we use to refer to all the actors who make decisions and produce results. Therefore, we can look at the role of Parliament, of the courts, of lobby groups and of public service. We can look at the results and at the value for citizens; it is all these phenomena, these actors, these processes, the culture underlying them that I would define as the policy ecosystem.
I believe that when we talk about the policy ecosystem and about these founding or fundamental elements, we really have to go back to basics. We are talking about Canada, a country with a federal constitution. We have a governance regime where there are several levels of government. Certainly, if I address practitioners, especially those from the federal public service, we are very sensitive and very aware of the role of the federal government in society and in the Canadian economy.
However, it is also relevant to understand and to be interested in the role of the provinces, the role of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples and the role of municipalities. This constituent factor is fundamental for me. There are also other dimensions, for example the principles of the responsible government, the role of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the role of the courts.
Then, there are aspects that are much less structuring but that are just as important. The whole question of history, traditions and debates that sometimes seem older to us but that stem from the culture which could be primarily Canadian and from regional subcultures which is a consensus culture nonetheless. There are particularities in our history that drive the political environment in which we live today.
[00:03:10 The following text appears on the screen: "Tell us about the concept of balancing the interests of the different groups involved in policy-making."]
The formulation of perspectives from different governments with different political and ideological orientations could come to different conclusions on how interests should be balanced. I think that we must always keep that in mind. The lenses seem relevant to me. When we think about issues of fairness and balance and when we approach a complex problem in policy—and most problems are complex these days—it is particularly useful to surround ourselves with the training of teams or to surround ourselves, even intellectually, with different lenses (inaudible).
Some lenses are legal in nature, so it is more a question of the legitimacy of authority and how it flows from the great founding principles. Sometimes it is also a lens of fairness and justice. There are lenses that are more political or anthropological, for example, trying to understand who is going to be a winner in a particular circumstance, who is going to be a loser. How do people see or experience a current situation, or how might they experience it in the future? So, the very, very concrete aspect of the impact of a decision.
There would also be . . . I might call it the lens that comes from the world of engineering a little bit — and I am not an engineer, but I have encountered some in my career — the perspective of problem solving. Something is not working, can we make it work? Could the machine start again?
Finally, there is the question . . . the whole question of what we might call communications. Ultimately, if we make a decision, if something happens, how will it be communicated, how could we explain it? It's also the same lens, which is called the family party lens, that is to say in three, four . . . three, four minutes, explaining it to an uncle, an aunt, a cousin; are we capable of explaining it well, the problem, and then the possible solutions?
Then, in this context, the question of balance becomes a little clearer because it is possible to sort things out, to explain all the angles of a problem, the possibilities for its resolution, the elements of what we call the toolkit; is it a legislative, regulatory solution, linked to the mobilization of several stakeholders? Is this a solution that starts from the concept of spending, therefore creating programs, transfer payments, constraining, prohibiting? So, once we've looked at an issue from multiple angles, we can move on to the toolkit.
[00:06:18 The following text appears on the screen: "How can we ensure that policies take into account the diverse perspectives of citizens?"]
I think that a good policy analyst must be interested in their environment and current events, so national and international news, curiosity, curiosity about what is happening in the country and then what is happening in the world is essential. There are many old and new formulas that exist now, which allow this contact in the context of policy development.
The classic blueprint, is a bit like a blueprint with broad guidelines, consultations by various vehicles. We look at what people have told us, then we develop options, we do an analysis with a few lenses, we put them together a little bit to make a decision. There is a decision that comes out and then something is created, and then, after a few years, we evaluate it.
That's the ideal kind, it's not bad to have it in mind, but obviously it doesn't represent the reality to which I think we aspire, which is a reality of continuous contact, sometimes contact which is not . . . which is not entirely visible. But there's also the whole issue of constantly listening to how programs, services and issues are perceived, and then bringing that back into the policy-making process.
[00:07:47 The following text appears on the screen: "What concrete advice would you give to aspiring political leaders?"]
The last thing I would say is to surround yourself with people who can look at problems, questions, issues, from different perspectives. This is important when building a team. For a manager, this is important when building a network. For an analyst, in terms of policies. So, you always have to keep this wide-angle view.
Then, the final aspect is that it is certain that you have to be . . . you have to work competently, with a little bit of luck, with excellence every day; so, the fundamental skills of thinking, of writing, of communicating, of collaborating. That's one of the things that . . . I think these are basic expectations, and then we can refine them. Even senior managers hone their communication and thinking skills every day.
